Notes:Thomas Clarke Rye (1863-1953) was born in a log cabin in Camden, TN. He read law and at 21 set up a practice. A prohibitionist, as attorney general he acquired a reputation as a man who upheld the law. As governor (1915-1919) during WWI, he saw 80,000 Tennesseans enter the armed forces to fight Germany. He promoted the "Ouster Law," which unseated the powerful Memphis mayor, Edward H. Crump for failing to enforce prohibition laws, although the mayor's influence was felt for years. Rye's administration saw major revisions in state government, with the creation of a highway dept. and boards of charitable institutions and education. Rye returned to his law practice after serving as governor, and died in 1953. The Tennessee Blue Book.
